Green Card

A Green Card holder (permanent resident) is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a “Green Card.” You can become a permanent resident several different ways. Most individuals are sponsored by a family member or employer in the United States. Other individuals may become permanent residents through refugee or asylee status or other humanitarian programs. In some cases, you may be eligible to file for yourself.

You may be eligible to apply for a green card (permanent residence) through your family, a job offer or employment, refugee or asylum status, or a number of other special provisions. In some cases, you may even be able to self-petition or have a record created for permanent residence on your behalf. In general, to meet the requirements for permanent residence in the United States, you must:

Be eligible for one of the immigrant categories established in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA);

Have a qualifying immigrant petition filed and approved for you (with a few exceptions);

Have an immigrant visa immediately available;

Be admissible to the United States.

Eligibility for an Immigrant Category:

Individuals who want to become immigrants (permanent residents) through their qualified family member, a job offer or employment, or a special category will generally be classified in categories based on a preference system. Except for immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen who are given the highest immigration priority and a few other exceptions, Congress has set a finite number of visas that can be used each year for each category of immigrants. The general categories are listed below. For more specific information under each general category, see the links to the left.

Family Based:

Some relatives of U.S. citizens, known as immediate relatives, do not have to wait for a visa to become available. There is no limit to the number of visas that can be utilized in this category in a particular year. Immediate relatives include:

-Parents of a U.S. citizen

-Spouses of a U.S. citizen

-Unmarried children under the age of 21 of a U.S. citizen

Note: U.S. citizens must be at least 21 years old to apply for their parents.

The qualified relatives of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in the remaining family-based categories may have to wait for a visa to become available before they can apply for permanent residency. These categories include:

-First Preference: Unmarried, adult (21 years of age or older) sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.

-Second Preference A: Spouses of permanent residents and the unmarried children (under the age of 21)) of permanent residents.

-Second Preference B: Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years or age or older) of permanent residents.

-Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, their spouses and their minor children.

-Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens, their spouses and their minor children.

Job or Employment Based

People who want to become immigrants based on employment or a job offer may apply for permanent residence or an immigrant visa abroad, when an immigrant visa number becomes available according to the following employment based preferences:

-Fourth Preference: Certain special immigrants including those in religious vocations.

Based on Refugee or Asylum Status

If you were admitted to the United States as a refugee or the qualifying spouse or child of a refugee, you are required to apply for permanent residence (a green card) 1 year after your entry into the United States in this status. If you were granted asylum in the United States or are a qualifying spouse or child of an asylee, you may apply for permanent residence 1 year after the grant of your asylum status.

If you are a refugee, you are required by law to apply for a green card 1 year after being admitted to the United States in refugee status.

If you are an asylee or asylee derivative spouse or child, you are not required to apply for a green card 1 year after being granted asylum or 1 year after being admitted to the United States in asylum status, although it may be in your best interest to do so.

Other Ways

Although most immigrants come to live permanently in the United States through a family member’s sponsorship, employment, or a job offer, there are many other ways to get a green card. A number of special immigrant programs are limited to individuals meeting particular qualifications and/or applying during certain time frames.

Requirements:

The steps to becoming a Green Card holder (permanent resident) vary by category and depend on whether you currently live inside or outside the United States. The main categories are:

-Green Card through Employment

-Green Card through Marriage

-Green Card through Family

-Green Card through a Job

-Green Card through Refugee or Asylee Status

If you are already a Green Card holder, we can assist you with the following:

Renewing or replacing your Green Card

Removing conditions on a Green Card

Travel outside the United States

How we can help you:

At the Law Office of Moona Shakil, an experienced senior attorney would help preparing your Green Card Application. Our immigration attorney would consult with you to discuss your options. Our mission is to provide prompt, high quality legal services to benefit the lives of our clients. We handle almost all types of immigration visas, and our attorneys understand that communication is a key to success. You need confidence that your lawyer understands your problem and is working with you to achieve results. Call us to find out how we provide superior service to our clients.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice. The use of the information on this website creates no attorney client relationship between the user and the Law Office of Moona Shakil, PLLC or its attorneys. There is no substitute for a face to face consultation with a lawyer. If you have legal questions, you must contact an experienced attorney immediately.

The main ways to immigrate based on a job offer or employment are listed below:
Green Card Through a Job Offer: You may be eligible to become a permanent resident based on an offer of permanent employment in the United States. Most categories require an employer to get a labor certification and then file a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, for you.
Green Card Through Investment: Green cards may be available to investors/entrepreneurs who are making an investment in an enterprise that creates new U.S. jobs.
Green Card Through Self Petition: Some immigrant categories allow...

A Green Card holder (permanent resident) is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a "Green Card." You can become a permanent resident several different ways. Most individuals are sponsored by a family member or employer in the United States. Other individuals may become permanent residents through refugee or asylee status or other humanitarian programs. In some cases, you may be eligible to file for yourself.
You may be eligible to apply ...

Many people get Green Cards (become permanent residents) through family members. You may be eligible to get a Green Card as:
An immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, this includes spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older;
A family member of a U.S. citizen fitting into a preference category, this includes unmarried sons or daughters over the age of 21, married children of any age, and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older;
A family member of a green card holder, this includes spouses and unmarried childre...

U.S. employers must check to make sure all employees, regardless of citizenship or national origin, are allowed to work in the United States. If you are not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, you may fall into one of three categories of persons who are eligible for employment authorization.
Category 1: You may have authorization to work in the United States as a result of your nonimmigrant status
Category 2: You may have authorization to work for a specific employer as a result of your nonimmigrant status
Category 3: You may be in a category which requires you to file for permissi...

Advance Parole travel authorization is available to foreign nationals who are present in the U.S. and who have filed I-485 Applications to Adjust Status to Permanent Resident. This authorization enables a foreign national to return to the U.S. from abroad; (i) without the need to possess a valid Nonimmigrant Visa; and (ii) without abandoning a recently filed or pending Adjustment of Status Application. Advance Parole is issued for a one year period and may be renewed in one-year increments upon written application filed with the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS). An Adjustment of Statu...

Lawful permanent residents or conditional permanent residents who wish to remain outside the United States for more than one year, but less than two years, may apply for a re-entry permit.
There are two functions of a re-entry permit:
It allows a permanent resident of the U.S. to reenter the U.S. after traveling abroad for longer than one year but less than two years. Usually, if a permanent resident travels abroad for a period longer than one year, s/he risks denial of admission into the U.S. on the ground that s/he has abandoned his or her permanent resident status. A re-entry permit ...

Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States and before they depart for their immigrant visa interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.
The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate ...

The Law Office of Moona Shakil, PLLC, with Offices in Arlington, Virginia, helps individuals and families file the Adjustment of Status application:
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) permits the change of an individual's immigration status while in the United States from nonimmigrant or parolee (temporary) to immigrant (permanent) if the individual was inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States and is able to meet all required qualifications for a green card (permanent residence) in a particular category. The common term for a change to permanent status is “adjustment ...

The Law Office of Moona Shakil, PLLC, with Offices in Arlington, Virginia, helps individuals and families gain US Citizenship:
If you meet certain requirements, you may become a U.S. citizen either at birth or after birth.
To become a citizen at birth, you must:
Have been born in the United States or certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; OR
Had a parent or parents who were citizens at the time of your birth (if you were born abroad) and meet other requirements
Requirements:
To become a citizen after b...

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7, 2016, that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of … READ MORE »

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. USCIS … READ MORE »

The State Department says it is working around the clock on a computer problem that’s having widespread impact on travel into the U.S. The glitch has practically shut down the visa application process. Of the 50,000 visa applications received every … READ MORE »

I have had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Shakil for the past 3 years. We first retained her services for assistance with a family member’s case and was so impressed with Moona’s work that we have continued to use … READ MORE »

Moona has handled our immigration cases from the beginning—right from filing my H1B, to applying for my wife’s and my Green Card. Based on my interaction with Moona during the last five years, I can confidently say that she is … READ MORE »

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Apr 10thH-1B Visa Cap Update – Lottery Completed!

On April 7 USCIS announced that it had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year 2015 and that it received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed … READ MORE »

Mar 03rdWanted: Foreign workers. H-1B visa requests leap

Applications for H-1B visas allowing foreign nationals to work in the U.S. are expected to keep rising in 2014, according to one analyst. At least 160,000 applications are expected for the 85,000 available visas when the filing season opens on … READ MORE »

Dec 05thThe majority of Americans support allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States.

This week President Obama made a strong pitch to revive the immigration bill, and recent polls show a majority of Americans support allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States. We commend President Obama in continuing to fight for … READ MORE »

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Law Office of Moona Shakil is located in Northern Virginia in Arlington, VA, and is minutes from Washington DC, Maryland, and surrounding counties in Virginia such as Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, and Loudon County. Our Immigration clients are based in nearly all US States, such as Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, West Virginia, Delaware, ...